Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
